Bedroom and Bath Addition Wired for Rough-In Inspection in Vancouver, WA

This older Vancouver home was getting a new bedroom and bathroom. We wired the addition from bare studs to a permitted rough-in inspection. The addition itself was straightforward. The catch was adding a bedroom, a bathroom and air conditioning to a house that still runs on 100-amp service.

What went in the walls

All of this was roughed in before insulation:

• Nine 5-inch recessed cans across the bedroom and bath
• A Panasonic fan-light plus a second Panasonic exhaust fan
• Bathroom ceiling heat on its own run
• A 20-amp bathroom circuit for the vanity outlets
• A 30-amp circuit for the new A/C
• Outlets, switches and a spot for a four-plug outlet

Every stud we drilled through got a steel nail plate. If a cable runs within an inch and a quarter of the stud face, a drywall screw can hit it. The plate stops that.

AFCI and GFCI on the new circuits

New bedroom circuits need arc-fault protection, and bathroom outlets need ground-fault protection. Here we used a 15-amp AFCI and a 20-amp AFCI/GFCI breaker, so the protection is in the panel and there’s no GFCI outlet to hunt for when something trips. Our post on GFCI vs AFCI protection explains the difference.

Adding load to a 100-amp house

A bedroom, a bath with ceiling heat, and A/C add up on a 100-amp service. This property already has an ADU and a mini split, so we check the load calculation before anything else. Sizing new circuits against what the service can carry is part of any remodel electrical job that adds square footage.

Planning an addition or a big remodel in Vancouver? Call 360-828-7143 to walk the plans with us before framing.